Islamic State issues video of beheading of U.S. hostage — (Reuters) - The Islamic State released a video purporting to show the beheading of American hostage Steven Sotloff, a monitoring service said on Tuesday, raised the stakes in its confrontation with Washington over U.S. air strikes on its fighters in Iraq.

Russian bank hires two former U.S. senators — U.S. sanctions against Russia are becoming a boon for Washington's lobbyists — Gazprombank GPB (OJSC), a Russian bank targeted with sanctions by President Obama over the Ukraine crisis, has hired two former U.S. senators to lobby against those sanctions …

Post names Frederick J. Ryan Jr. as new publisher — Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos is replacing Publisher Katharine Weymouth with Frederick J. Ryan Jr., a former Reagan administration official who was part of the founding leadership team of Politico, a primarily digital news organization …

Halfway House: GOP falling short in midterms — Tepid fundraising, underperforming candidates and a lousy party brand are threatening to deprive House Republicans of the sweeping 2014 gains that some top party officials have been predicting this year. — POLITICO interviewed …

Why I'm Leaving Slate for Bloomberg Politics — This blog does not believe in lede-burying, so here you go: On September 19, I'll be leaving Slate to work for Bloomberg Politics. I'll be covering exactly what I cover now, but at a different address. Slate's politics and policy coverage …

What ISIS's Leader Really Wants — The longer he lives, the more powerful he becomes — On June 29, 2014—or the first of Ramadan, 1435, for those who prefer the Islamic calendar to the Gregorian—the leaders of the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) publicly uttered for the first time a word …

Apple Media Advisory — Update to Celebrity Photo Investigation — We wanted to provide an update to our investigation into the theft of photos of certain celebrities. When we learned of the theft, we were outraged and immediately mobilized Apple's engineers to discover the source.

Life in an English Town Where Abuse of Young Girls Flourished — ROTHERHAM, England — It started on the bumper cars in the children's arcade of the local shopping mall. Lucy was 12, and a group of teenage boys, handsome and flirtatious, treated her and her friends to free rides and ice cream after school.

Passenger dispute diverts flight to JIA — Witness: Passengers argued over seat recliner … A Delta Airlines flight from LaGuardia to Palm Beach International Airport was diverted to Jacksonville when a passenger got into a dispute over a reclining seat.

Senate campaigns retract political ads … Latest Stories — Weather — Flood warning issued for upper Chena River — by Associated Press on Sep 02, 10:49 — Authorities have issued a flood warning for the upper Chena River after more than 2 inches of rain have fallen since Monday afternoon.

Rand Paul Supports U.S. War in Middle East to Destroy ISIS — Kentucky senator Rand Paul tells the AP that he would seek to “destroy ISIS militarily” if he were president: … Paul had recently expressed ambivalence about U.S. military action against the Islamist terrorists who are building a state in Iraq and Syria.

Republicans, Make Your Case — Republicans continue to lack any strategy for winning the November elections beyond avoiding mistakes and hoping that President Obama's unpopularity, especially in key states, delivers control of the Senate to them. It must be said that the party has executed …

The gubernatorial race — Of those polled, 43.6% say if the election was held today they would vote for Nathan Deal, the republican incumbent who has held the state's chief office since 2011. Democrat Jason Carter, who is the grandson of President Jimmy Carter, received 41.51% of the poll's hypothetical votes.

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